The owner of the Land of Illusion Adventure Park and affiliated companies have filed a federal lawsuit against Madison Twp. and the Madison Twp. trustees claiming the townships noise resolution is unconstitutional.
Brett Oakley, B.A.O. Productions, LLC, and Ohio Event Services, LLC filed a lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati that is seeking declaratory judgment that the noise resolution was unconstitutional, a preliminary injunction and a permanent injunction to restrain the township from enforcing the noise resolution, among other things.
In the lawsuit, Oakley said the noise resolution was unconstitutional because it fails to sufficiently identify what conduct is outlawed. It also fails to sufficiently inform any Madison Twp. resident or business who is subject to the regulation, the lawsuit says.
Oakley said the noise resolution has been applied unconstitutionally against Oakley and his companies. The lawsuit claims the resolution had not been enforced until Oakley sought to expand Land of Illusion.
The noise resolution only applies to businesses with a Class D liquor permit and prohibits “unreasonable noise, loud sound or associated vibrations” that are “audible, or perceptible” at 500 feet from the source of the sound or 75 feet from a boundary line that is likely to cause “annoyance or inconvenience to persons of ordinary sensibilities.”
The lawsuit said the noise resolution only applies to two businesses in the township, Land of Illusion and the Madison Inn.
The lawsuit claims Oakley and his company were treated unequally and in violation of their rights.
Oakley is also seeking compensatory damages for violating his and his companies constitutional rights and attorney’s fees.
Alan Daniel, a long-time Madison Twp. trustee, declined to comment about the federal lawsuit.
This is the second federal lawsuit Oakley has filed against the township in the last two months.
On Dec. 18, Oakley filed a lawsuit against the township and Butler County, township trustees, county commissioners and the county planning adminisrator, after he was denied a zoning change for a proposed $190 million expansion has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that county and township officials were “arbitrary and capricious” in their decision-making process.
That lawsuit claims Butler County deprived Oakley of his state and federal due process and equal protection rights concerning the zoning change to a Business Planned Unit Development zone he was seeking.
In addition, that lawsuit claims the actions by county and township officials were “arbitrary and capricious” which resulted in “unnecessarily delayed expansion” of the park. It also claimed township officials caused damages because of their “failure to update the land use plan to bring it current with the actual land uses within the township, specifically with regards to the property, is unlawful.”